Thursday, 3 September 2015

You often see "patriots" concerned about Muslim migrants and refugees express concerns about Muslims "taking over" from the supposedly Christian society in Australia, and tonight I saw on SBS news similar sentiments being expressed in Europe. Here's a thought: if we were better Christians, then the refugee situation wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is.

As Christians living in the relatively comfortable First World, we should have a moral obligation to assist those in need. Unfortunately we have left millions of Syrian refugees sitting in camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Our 15 year conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have not helped, but added to the problem, and yet we wash our hands of our portion of the responsibility.

Had we moved immediately to empty the camps in an orderly manner, with rich countries all doing their part, then the desperate journeys and tragic deaths at sea and in the back of trucks would be unnecessary.

Secondly, I would have thought that any genuine Christian would welcome those of other faiths, and welcome the chance to show them by an example of compassion and service, just what it really means to be a Christian. Who knows, rather than worrying and complaining about Sharia Law and Halal Vegemite, we could instead be celebrating new brothers and sisters joining us as Christians because of how we treated them with love, rather than rejecting them in suspicion and hate?